NICU, Day 18: October 5, 2009

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First meeting with Mom

We thought it was a sprint…now we realize it’s a marathon.

Tonight Scott and I both looked at one another as I held Luke and we agreed that we’re exhausted – more emotionally, than physically.

Luke continues to make really fabulous progress. The tube is gone (totally spacing on its officialy name, but it was the one that sucked all the gunk out of his stomach – nice visual, I know) and the only hardware left are his leads (to monitor heartrate and respirations), blood pressure cuff and PICC line. He’s losing stuff left and right. Love it.

It was Grand Central Station at the hospital this morning. Scott and I dropped the boys off at school, then he took me to the hospital and then journeyed to work and begin to dig out from beneath the pile. While he was digging, I was at NICU school. I swear, everyday is like college. Pop quiz at 11. The doctors, all of ’em, are happy with Luke’s progress. We just have two lingering issues that are taking precedence – the fluctuating blood pressures and his white blood cell count that continues to rise. We did two ultrasounds today, head and abdomen, to look for bleeding on the brain (none, thankfully) and abscesses in the belly (zilch-o). The tech took an excruciating TWO hours to deliver that news.

The nurse and I gave Luke another bath and he looked so good! I learned how to change his stoma bag – that’s a whole other post for when I’m more rested. Suffice to say, it’s like craft-time at Michael’s. We put him in clothes for the first time and bundled him. Yeppers. He can finally maintain his own body temperature.

I visited with the cardiologist today and while the heart is still a lingering organ that needs attention, we’ve decided it’s not emergent. He will probably need surgery to close the VSD, but it does appear, at least initially, that his PDA is closing on its own.

I have so much more to share, but my eyes are giving out. Forgive a tired momma…I’ll be back in the saddle again tomorrow with some funny stories, some sweet anecdotes and a few more ways you can help.

Bottom line? Master Luke is continuing on the path to recovery and we are beyond thankful for your willingness to be an integral part of Team Luke. Love y’all.

HOWDY and welcome to life at Team Whitaker where I share life as it happens: big families, carpool, Catholicism,Texas Aggies, prematurity, DIY/organizing projects, sanity checks and the occasional glass of wine at 10am. You get real Kathryn. Unedited, honest and a little sassy. It's a Texas-sized honor to have you here! Contact me at [email protected]{Read More}